Many modern vehicles, such as aircraft, are equipped with a wide variety of electrical and computing systems that monitor and, in some instances, control various operational aspects of the aircraft. One of the tasks performed by these systems is to warn a user (e.g., pilot) of the aircraft that the aircraft is approaching a particular type of airspace, such as a noise-restriction airspace or a no-fly zone.
Such warning systems typically incorporate positioning systems, such as the Global Position System (GPS), along with a determined heading of the aircraft (e.g., via a compass and an Automatic Direction Finder (ADF)), and a database, either onboard the aircraft or on the ground, of the various restricted airspaces to compare the position and heading of the aircraft to the locations of the airspaces. A notification or alarm is given to the user if the current position is within a predetermined distance of one of the airspaces or the current position and heading of the aircraft indicate that the aircraft will intrude upon a restricted airspace within a predetermined amount of time.
However, because such warnings are only given while the aircraft is in flight and on a heading to intrude upon the airspace, changes to the flight path are made while the aircraft is in flight, which can add to the difficulty and increase the stress of operating an aircraft. Additionally, such in-flight changes to the flight path may result in an increase in the amount of fuel required to complete the flight.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a system and method for alerting a user of an aircraft of a possible intrusion into an airspace that reduces the number of in-flight changes to the flight path due to restricted airspaces. In addition, it is desirable to provide such a system that can provide such alerts by compensating for the actual position of the aircraft compared to the planned flight path. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.